HanmiGlobal Holds Technical Forum on 'Development and Cases of Smart Buildings'

Introduction to Smart Building Cases and Trends with Robot-Friendly Technology Applied

HanmiGlobal, the No.1 PM (Construction Project Management) specialist company in Korea, announced on the 11th that it held a technology forum at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, under the theme “Designing the Future: Development and Cases of Smart Buildings.”

HanmiGlobal announced on the 11th that it held a technology forum at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, under the theme "Designing the Future: Development and Cases of Smart Buildings." From the left, fifth person: HanmiGlobal Chief Technology Officer Lee Gukheon, Executive Director Park Kyunghwi, Naver Labs Senior Leader Kang Sangcheol, NEURON Technical Director Mark Chen.

A smart building refers to a building that utilizes automation and intelligent technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) to monitor and control the internal and external environments of the building. By using integrated platform control technology and robots, it creates mobility, logistics, and eco-friendly spaces to reduce energy consumption, improve building productivity, and enhance real estate value. Representative smart buildings applying robot-friendly architectural technology include Naver’s new headquarters 1784 and the smart office “Factorial Seongsu.”

The forum featured HanmiGlobal, which has extensive PM experience in constructing smart buildings including Naver 1784, global design software company Autodesk, NEURON?a subsidiary of the UK engineering and PM firm ARUP?and Naver Labs, Naver’s R&D specialized subsidiary. They presented on the current status and technological development trends of smart buildings both domestically and internationally.

Professor Cho Hoonhee of Korea University’s Graduate School of Technology Management, who delivered the keynote speech, defined “smart buildings as platforms that embody the technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution.” Professor Cho identified key technologies for smart building development as △robot-friendly architectural design △operation and management technologies supporting multiple and diverse robot services △robot-friendly building demonstration and institutional frameworks.

Choi Yongsung, Technical Director of Autodesk Korea, who presented on “The Role of Clients in Building Smart Buildings,” stated, “To build smart buildings, a digital-based integrated project management system is essential, and clients must also have the capability to review and utilize 3D data.”

Park Kyung-hwi, Executive Director of HanmiGlobal, is giving a keynote presentation at the 2024 HG Tech Forum (HanmiGlobal Technology Forum).

Park Kyunghwi, Executive Director at HanmiGlobal, explained the convergence of architecture and smart technology based on the project case of Naver 1784. Naver 1784 is the world’s first robot-friendly building and Naver’s second headquarters, where HanmiGlobal managed PM tasks from design through to occupancy after completion in 2022, spanning about seven years.

Executive Director Park emphasized, “HanmiGlobal defines smart buildings as not only energy-zero buildings and automated control technologies of Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) but also technologies that actively control user convenience and work environments, reflecting solutions that flexibly respond to a changing society.”

He further explained, “In the case of Naver 1784, we worked hard to implement a robot-friendly building by eliminating level differences along all robot travel paths, integrating building infrastructure such as gates and elevators with robots via the cloud, and installing the world’s first robot-exclusive elevator.”

Kang Sangcheol, Lead Researcher at Naver Labs, Naver’s R&D specialized subsidiary researching robots, digital twins, and ARC (AI-Robot-Cloud) systems, said, “Our R&D mission is to connect Naver’s technologies and services to the real world. The robot-friendly building 1784, where about 100 robots provide various services, is the starting point, and it will expand to campuses and smart cities in the future.”

Additionally, Mark Chen, Technical Director of NEURON, a subsidiary of the UK engineering and PM firm ARUP, presented global trends in smart building energy solution platforms that enhance energy efficiency and digital AI technologies in construction through overseas smart building cases such as the Hong Kong Nan Fung Group’s Airside project.